Chris Christie: Gingrich ‘Has Been an Embarrassment to the Party’

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday Newt Gingrich’s past actions have been “an embarrassment” to the Republican Party and a reason why he should not get the GOP nomination for president.

Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Christie, a Mitt Romney supporter, said the country doesn’t “need another legislator in the oval office.”

“We need an executive, someone who both in the private sector and as a governor understands how to bring people together and use executive power,” Christie said. “The Speaker simply doesn’t have that experience, he’s never run anything.”

Asking about his past remarks that Romney would never “embarrass America,” host David Gregory asked Christie whether he thinks Gingrich would embarrass the country. Christie said yes, adding that Gingrich has already “embarrassed the party.”

“We all know the record. I mean, he was run out of the speakership of his own party, he was fined $300,000 for ethics violations,” Christie said. “This is a guy who has had a very difficult political career at times and has been an embarrassment to the party.”

He continued, “The fact of the matter is, I don’t need to regale the country with that entire list again except to say this: I’m not saying he will do it again in the future, but sometimes past is prologue.”